Characteristics of studies included in the review
| Lead author | Year | Country | Description of sample | Study design | Number of family carers at baseline in | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Control (UC or APC) | |||||
| Ferrell | 1995 | USA | Family carers of hospital outpatients aged 60+ years with cancer-related pain duration ≥3 months; prescribed opioid analgesia | SGPP | 50 | – |
| Wells | 2003 | USA | Family carers of hospital outpatients with cancer pain of onset or escalation in last 3 months; managed by analgesia; life expectancy >6 months | SGPP then 3-arm RCT of follow-up a. Patient-initiated b. Nurse-initiated | 64 a. 21 b. 19 | −24 (UC) |
| Keefe | 2005 | USA | Family carers of hospice and hospital outpatients with advanced cancer diagnosis; disease-related pain (worst >3 BPI); life expectancy <6 months | 2-arm RCT | 41 | 37 (UC) |
| Lin | 2006 | Taiwan | Family carers of hospital outpatients with cancer pain taking oral analgesics | 2-arm RCT | 31 | 30 (UC) |
| Ward | 2009 | USA | Family carers of hospital outpatients with cancer diagnosis, reporting moderate to severe pain in past 2 weeks; performance status score indicating out of bed >50% of waking hours | 3-arm RCT a. Dyad b. Patient only | a. 51 b. 53 | 57 (UC) |
| Capewell | 2010 | UK | Family carers of patients receiving palliative care from hospital outpatient clinics or community teams; living at home; pain from active cancer rated ≥3 on 0–10 scale | SGPP | 10 | – |
| Vallerand | 2010 | USA | Family carers of patients with cancer pain receiving care from home care nurses (not hospice nurses) | Cluster RCT | 24 | 22 (UC) |
| Valeberg | 2013 | Norway | Family carers of hospital outpatients with cancer diagnosis and radiographic evidence of bone metastasis; pain ≥2.5 on 1–10 scale; KPS ≥50 | 2-arm RCT | 58 | 54 (APC+ booklet) |
Study design: RCT, randomised controlled trial; SGPP, single group pretest and post-test design.
Control: APC, attention placebo control; UC, usual care.
BPI, Brief Pain Inventory.